Scores of the match were 32-30, 33-31, and 30-18 in favor of the Waves (7-1, 6-1 MPSF), who have won their last four matches. The Gauchos, which had won their previous three matches in sweeps, fell to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the league.

Pepperdine hit .455 for the match and out-blocked UCSB 12.5 to 3.0. The Gauchos posted 61 kills and 28 errors in 118 swings to finish with the season-low .260 attack percentage.

In game one, UCSB played from behind early before a pair of Patak kills put the Gauchos up 10-8. UCSB pushed its lead to as many as six points before the Waves climbed back into the game. A five-point run brought Pepperdine within one at 24-23, but UCSB kept the lead and then went up 29-26 on blocks by middle hitter Theo Brunner and outside hitter Bryan Berman. Pepperdine negated three-straight game points by UCSB and tied it at 29-29 on a John Parfitt kill, a Paul Carroll ace, and a UCSB hitting error. Following a timeout by the Gauchos, Brunner hammered a kill for the side out, putting UCSB up 30-29. Carroll tied it back up with a kill, and then a UCSB hitting error and blocks by Tom Hulse and Jon Grobe iced the win for the Waves.

Patak had 10 of his kills in the opening game, while Carroll had nine of his team-best 19. Each side had three blocks and Pepperdine hit .357 to UCSB's .308.

UCSB led by as many as four points in game two. The Gauchos led most of the game until Pepperdine tied it 23-23 with blocks from Hulse and Jonathan Winder. Two Brunner kills and a Wave attack error gave UCSB a 26-23 advantage, but Pepperdine tied the game again at 27-27, forcing UCSB to take a time out. Following the break, middle hitter David Kennedy put away a kill and an ensuing Pepperdine error brought the Gauchos to game point at 29-27. UCSB couldn't put the game away and two straight kills from Grobe and Parfitt evened the game at 29-29. Patak gave UCSB another game-point with a kill, but Greg Gaudino came back with a kill of his own to keep pace at 30-30. The squads traded kills before two Carroll kills gave the game, and the momentum, to Pepperdine.

In the second stanza, the Waves hit a solid .516, while UCSB attacked at a .375 clip. Patak had nine kills in the game, while both Gaudino and Carroll had five apiece.

The third game was all Pepperdine as the Waves hit .483 to the Gauchos' match-low .154. Blocks were 6.5 to 0 in favor of Pepperdine. UCSB's Michael Fisher had a kill to knot the score at 3-3, but Pepperdine scored four unanswered points and the Gauchos would never recover.

For UCSB, Brunner finished with 11 kills, hit .667 and totaled four blocks. Kennedy had 12 kills and hit .350, while Patak had the 24 kills in 49 attacks, but hit .265, his second-lowest percentage of the year. Libero Ben Brockman tallied a match co-high seven digs and setter Bart Kowalski had 46 assists.

Gaudino hit .889 for the Waves, recording eight kills and no errors in nine attacks. Hulse finished with eight blocks and Tanner Sutherland had a match co-high seven digs. Winder ended up with 43 assists.

UCSB will travel west to play at MPSF opponent Hawai'I Feb. 8-9. Both matches are slated for a 10 p.m. PT start.